Benjamin Carmine
Private Benjamin Carmine (COG tags CSID 83B186-22AO3-SF) or Rook by his squad mates and Squirt by his brothers, was the brother of Anthony and Clayton Carmine, and a Gear soldier like them. Much like his brother Anthony, Benjamin is incredibly enthusiastic, reverent for veteran Gears, and fond of wearing a helmet. However, Benjamin is unique from Anthony in that he is a polite and kind-hearted sort of soldier and will disregard the Golden Rule of the Gears if he sees a teammate down. However, perhaps thanks to frequent prompting from Marcus and Dom, this is the only time he will rush out of cover but he still has a better understanding of staying in cover than Anthony did. Biography Early Life Ben was the youngest of the Carmine brothers, and joined the army along with them. His brother Anthony was killed during the Lightmass Offensive, and the Carmine family regarded him as a hero for his role in the Offensive.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Welcome to Delta Training Under Marcus Ben joined Delta Squad before Operation: Hollow Storm as Sgt. Marcus Fenix's new trainee, and was a little clumsy at first. Lt. Anya Stroud commented that he was "green as grass". As he reported to Marcus outside of Jacinto Med, he dropped his gun on his foot. In the game, the player has the choice of whether or not to train Ben. If the player chooses to train Ben, Marcus and Cpl. Dominic Santiago took him training, where they taught him how to use the Tac-Com, the Golden Rule of the Gears, how to reload and aim, and how to toss a Bolo Grenade. They spotted several Wretches during the patrol, and Ben nearly killed the three of them after he messed up throwing a grenade. After being trained and returning to outside the hospital, he was ordered to stay at the drop off point until called on his radio. If the player chooses to not train him, Marcus and Dom go to Jacinto Med to assist the Gears stationed there. Prior to leaving, he orders Carmine to guard the spot he's standing on. Ben, confused, replies that there's nothing there to guard. As Marcus puts it, "Sounds like a good first assignment to me." Raid on Jacinto Med However, Jacinto Med was attacked, and another squad of Gears rounded Ben up to fight off the Locust. He had trouble reloading, and took cover inside the buildings enterence to fix his gun. He was found there by Marcus and Dom, along with Cpl.Tai Kaliso. He explained the situation to Marcus and fixed his gun, and they headed outside, to help the other Gears fight off the Locust attacking the hospital. They forced the Locust back from the enterence and down the street, where the Locust retreated. After the battle, Marcus told Ben that he did a good job. He was happy about being congratulated by Marcus, and tried, unsuccessfully, to get a high-five from Tai.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Desperation for Operation: Hollow Storm.]] Operation: Hollow Storm Assault on Landown Soon after the attack on Jacinto Med, the COG began Operation: Hollow Storm. Ben went with Marcus and Dom aboard a King Raven to the rig "Betty", driven by Pvt. Dizzy Wallin. They defended the rig from attacks on the road to Landown.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Rolling Thunder/The Big Push After they arrived at Landown, Ben and the rest of Delta, joined by Tai, whose Rig had been blown up by Tickers, escorted Dizzy and betty(the rig) through the city streets. When the rig was pinned by mortar fire, Ben went with Marcus to secure one side of a street while Dom and Tai took the other.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Roadblocks Ben and the others defended the drill site while Dizzy prepared their Grindlifts, but just when they were about to drop into the Hollow, Skorge attacked. Ben, Marcus, and Dom were already secured in their lifts, but Tai jumped out of his and Ben's lift to help Dizzy hold off Skorge. The pods then started up, and the three Gears dropped into the Hollow.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Digging In Fighting through the Hollow Upon landing, Ben discovered his pod had gone off-course. He linked up with Echo-Five, and managed to contact Marcus and Dom, who told him to stay put, and that they were coming to get him. However, Ben and Echo-Five were attacked by a large group of Locust, and all of Echo-Five was killed. Ben was saved when Marcus and Dom showed up and helped him kill the attacking Locust. They defended JACK as he worked on fixing a Grindlift, fighting off a large Locust force. As they used the Grindlift to dig a tunnel through a wall, Dom complained about all of the dust, and Ben suggested he wear a helmet so he wouldn't have to breath it in. Dom, annoyed, pointed out that he wouldn't be able to see snipers so well then, refering to how Ben's brother was killed. However, Ben was unaware of what Dom was implying, and Marcus told Dom to cool down before he said anything else. They then proceeded through the tunnel, and assisted Omega-One in fighting off a Locust attack.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Scattered After leaving Omega, they continued through the Hollow, and encounted a Rock Worm, and were informed by Anya that the creatures were indestructible. Ben tested this out by firing on it a few times, and saw it didn't even pay any attention to him. Soon after, they destroyed a Locust staging area and a Locust Forward base. Shortly after assisting Alpha-Two,Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Indigenous Creatures Ben had a brief conversation with the others on where they thought the Locust came from, and offered different theories. He soon got some hints to his questions when they found a carved doorway, guarded by a Kantus monk. After fighting through another Locust postion, they came across a clearing when Skorge, mounted on his Hydra, appeared and began his chanting. Skorge and his Hydra then flew off, followed by the gigantic Rift Worm, the source of the seismic activity. Ben was visibly horrified by the sight of this gigantic worm, exclaiming "Holy shit!" numerous times while Marcus was informing Anya of what they just saw. Anya then informed Marcus that the city of Ilima had just been sunk, right at their position.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Disturbing Revelations Battle in the Ilima Sinkhole After fighting through the sunken city, they were ambushed at the crash site of KR Five-Four and Charlie-Nine. While the Locust were closing in, Augustus Cole arrives and rescues them. They worked their way toward Cole's two remaining squadmates', Cpl. Damon Baird and Tanner, last known location.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Sinking Feeling They find Tanner dead, and Baird trapped in a Locust holding pod. They let him out, and learn the Locust are capturing and torturing people. The five Gears then board a Torture Barge to free any COG prisoners. When they arrived on board, they found Tai in a holding cell. He was let out, and Marcus ordered him to come with them. Tai had a strange look in his eyes, and did not move. Marcus handed him a Gnasher Shotgun and turned to go. Tai looked at the gun, and used it to commit suicide. Marcus yelled in horror as Tai fell to the deck, revealing horrific wounds on his back. Benjamin stared in shock at Tai's body and couldn't believe what the Locust had done to Tai. After collecting Tai's COG Tags, the five of them then made their way to extraction point. As Delta Squad waited for the King Raven, they were attacked by many Locust soldiers. When the chopper arrived, Ben covered Delta's retreat and was shot in the shoulder. He fell against the chopper and was pulled in by the team. As Ben lay on the chopper's floor, he revealed that the bullet that hit him did not pierce his COG armor. As he cheered that they had made it, the helicopter was hit by flying rubble from an approaching Riftworm. Ben fell - screaming - out of the chopper and into the creature's mouth. Delta Squad fell in shortly after, and they began their hunt for him.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Captivity Death in the Riftworm Unfortunately, Ben was attacked by Nemacytes and badly wounded. The rest of Delta arrived and chased off the parasites, but Ben's chest was burned to the bone with acid. Before succumbing to his wounds, he spoke to Marcus, saying: "Sarge?... I... I hurt Sarge... I... tell my brothers... my ma... tell 'em I love 'em, and...and.." Ben died from his horrific wounds, unable to finish his final words. Marcus collected his COG Tags, and a letter that he had written to his brother Clay, to deliver both to Carmine's family. Delta was forced to abandon the body as a debris wall inside the Riftworm began to close on them.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Intestinal Fortitude Legacy When Sgt. Bernadette Mataki was rescued from the Sinking of Jacinto, Marcus gave her a head count of the casualties. Ben was among those he mentioned. Like his brother, Anthony, he would be viewed as a hero for his sacrifice for the COG.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 26 Marcus also seemed affected by his death, as he had promised Ben that they would see the surface again while in the Hollow. His brother Clay immortalized Ben, along with Anthony, in the form of a tattoo on his arm.Gears of War 3 Personality and Traits Benjamin (like his brother Anthony) was "green as grass," but was able to survive most of the first day of Operation: Hollow Storm, whereas his brother was killed only hours into the Lightmass Offensive. Like his brother, he held the veterans of Delta in high regard and believed it was an honor to serve in the same unit that his brother "heroically" died in. To the end of his life, Ben remained unaware of how Anthony Carmine really died. Benjamin was also known for a love of fire as stated by Dominic Santiago after finding the Scorcher Flamethrower.Gears of War 2: Act 3: Gathering Storm: Dirty Little Secret Notable Quotes Behind the Scenes *In Gears of War: The Quickening, Ben wears the same helmet as his brother.Gears of War: The Quickening *Ben Carmine's face is indeed the head of Minh Young Kim, as we are not supposed to see his "real" face. *Anthony and Benjamin Carmine both share some audio files for their voices in multiplayer for Gears of War 2. Merchandise Ben Carmine/"COG soldier" is an action figure for the NECA Gears of war series 3, released in early 2009. The figure is considered to be a rather rare figure and comes with a Lancer Assault Rifle and a Longshot Sniper Rifle. Multiplayer Benjamin Carmine is a playable character for the COG team in Gears of War 2 and 3. References Category:Characters Category:Gear Soldier Category:COG Category:Males